Alumni Council Elections

Beginning May 10, 2016, the Penn State Alumni Association will hold its annual election to elect 10 individuals to serve on Alumni Council, the Alumni Association’s governing body, for a three-year term commencing July 1, 2016.

All current alumni members of the Alumni Association are eligible to vote in the election, with the exception of members of the Blue & White Society (the student membership of the Alumni Association), and associate members of the Alumni Association (as defined in the organization’s bylaws).

The 2016 election of Alumni Council members will take place online from May 10–31, and the results will be announced on or about June 1. Ballots and voting instructions will be emailed on May 10, 2016, to all alumni members for whom the Alumni Association has an email address.

FAQs

Who can vote in the Alumni Council election?

All Alumni Association members entitled to vote in Alumni Association elections shall generally vote by email. To vote online, we must have your email address. If you do not receive our monthly e-newsletter AlumnInsider or emails about our events and programs, we probably do not have your email address on file. You can add or delete your email address—or other information such as your street mailing address—online.

Paper ballots will be provided to members on request by contacting the Alumni Association’s Volunteer Services team. Paper ballots must be returned prior to May 31, 2016.

Who can be a candidate in the election for Alumni Council member?

Generally, any member of the Alumni Association can seek to be a candidate in the Alumni Council election with the following exceptions: administrators of the Pennsylvania State University, such as those persons serving as a vice president, dean, or chancellor of the University, and the like; University administrators emeriti; current members of the University’s Board of Trustees; and University trustees emeriti. Please refer to the Amended and Restated Alumni Association Mission and Bylaws for the specific requirements to be a candidate in the Alumni Council election.

What is the process for candidacy?

Alumni Association members who are interested in being elected to Alumni Council in the upcoming election can first download a PDF of the Alumni Council Nomination Form. (Please note that an individual interested in being a candidate for Alumni Council may either be self-nominated or be nominated by a third party.)

Each nomination form should be complete and forwarded via email to the Volunteer Services team of the Alumni Association on or before Jan. 15, 2016. Nomination forms that are not completed in full by a nominee prior to the deadline will not be eligible to be considered by the Nominating Committee for inclusion on the election ballet.

Once received by the Alumni Association, the Nominating Committee will then review and evaluate all nominees based upon various criteria established by the Nominating Committee in order to determine which individuals shall stand for election. Among those criteria that will be applied are an individual’s years of volunteer service to the University, the Alumni Association and to their respective community; years of leadership experience as an officer or chair of an organization; demonstrated support of the Alumni Association’s mission; and diversity and representation by colleges, organized alumni units (including service as an Alumni Council member) graduation years, and geographical areas.

The Nominating Committee will report a slate of candidates to the Alumni Council as soon as reasonably possible after its work is completed. All candidates will be notified, whether or not such individuals have been selected by the Nominating Committee to stand for election. For those individuals selected to stand for election, the Alumni Association staff will work with each candidate to procure biographical information, photos, and position statements for use on the election ballot.

Is the Alumni Council election the same as the Penn State Board of Trustees election?

No. These two elections are both held in the spring of each year and Alumni Association members are generally eligible to vote in each. But otherwise, they are completely separate elections for very different governing bodies. Information about the Penn State Board of Trustees members and its election process is available at the BOT website.

Does the Alumni Association endorse any alumni candidates for the Alumni Council or Board of Trustee election?

No. Alumni Association policy is to refrain from publicly endorsing, supporting, or campaigning to elect individual candidates to the University’s Board of Trustees or to Alumni Council. The Alumni Association takes the position that all candidates whose name appears on the election ballot for the University’s Board of Trustees and the Alumni Council are worthy of consideration; thus, the Alumni Association would not recommend one or more specific candidate(s) to its large and diverse body of alumni.

Moreover, alumni groups affiliated with the Alumni Association also refrain from endorsing specific candidates. The Alumni Association does, however, promote the full slate of candidates for each election in order to encourage greater University alumni participation in both elections and encourages its affiliate groups to do the same.